CANFIELD Petitioners aim to oust trustee

Petitions are being circulated to repave two township roads.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- A group of township residents is hoping a judge or jury will play The Terminator and say "hasta la vista, baby" to township Trustee Judy Bayus.
Bayus, meanwhile, said she is looking forward to her day in court. She and her husband, Ed, said they plan to introduce, as evidence, taped conversations that demonstrate wrongdoing on the part of township trustees and officials.
"Let's introduce these tapes and get them transcribed. Let's expose where the crookedness is," Ed Bayus said.
The group, which calls itself the "Terminate-hers," has been going house-to-house in the township collecting signatures on petitions that charge Judy Bayus with neglecting her duties. The petitions would be the basis of a complaint against Bayus in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seeking her removal from office.
A trial before a judge or jury would be held after the complaint is filed to determine if Bayus should be removed from office.
The group needs 454 signatures to file the complaint. Richard Puerner of Leffingwell Road, a Terminate-her member, said the group has collected about 800 signatures so far.
"As soon as you go to a few houses, the people say, 'Hey, give me one, I'll get the whole neighborhood'," Puerner said. Group member Marie Cartwright, also of Leffingwell Road, added "they too want to see action taken."
Voting 'no'
The group said Bayus has bogged down the township by blocking approval of some resolutions, including those to rebuild Gibson Road and to repave Fairway and McCarty drives.
"She votes no, for no apparent reason, to the detriment of our township," group member Randy Brashen of Shields Road said. "I have no ill will, I wish Judy Bayus well, but I don't believe she's doing the best she can do for our township."
Atty. Brian Macala, who represents the Terminate-hers, wouldn't comment on what evidence he would present at trial. Trustee Paul Moracco wouldn't comment on the petition drive, while Trustee Bill Reese couldn't be reached.
Ed Bayus said he would want transcripts of taped phone conversations between himself, his wife and township officials introduced as evidence. He taped many of his phone conversations with township Clerk Carmen Heasley during the past few years without Heasley's knowledge."Thank God that I did," said Bayus, a former Campbell city councilman, Campbell finance director and part-time county deputy sheriff. "I just had this sixth sense, a police thought: Cover your a--, because you never know what's coming down the road."
Heasley, however, said she believes the Bayuses may have guided the conversation in the tapes so that it can be taken out of context and misunderstood. She added that she doesn't know if the Bayuses tampered with the tapes or if Ed Bayus is correct on the dates of the conversations.
One instance
On one of the tapes which Bayus shared with The Vindicator, Heasley and the Bayuses discuss extra paychecks given to employees.
Ed Bayus said he believes the township illegally paid its employees for two weeks of work that they didn't perform.
Heasley, however, said the employees earned the two extra paychecks. She said before the checks were issued, employee pay was two weeks in arrears.
Township officials issued the checks because they believed employee pay had to be current to adhere to state regulations, Heasley said. She noted that the state auditor reviewed the township's finances and didn't find any problems with the paychecks.
"[The Bayuses] have made a lot of accusations in the last four to five years, and all have been addressed by the auditor," Heasley said. "These people are out in left field, and people need to know it."
Heasley compared the Bayuses to Linda Tripp, who taped conversations about then-President Bill Clinton with White House Intern Monica Lewinsky.
"That's how much trust she [Judy Bayus] has in the people she works with," Heasley said.
Judy Bayus, meanwhile, stressed that she believes township residents have yet to hear her side of the arguments.
"No matter how thin the pancake, it still has two sides," she said.
Reasons for votes
Bayus said she voted against repaving Fairway and McCarty drives because her fellow trustees wanted to transfer money from the general fund into the road fund to pay for the project. She said trustees should live within their means and spend only what is in the road fund on the project.
Reese has circulated petitions on McCarty and Fairway drives that could allow the township to pave the road without approval from Bayus. The petitions need to be signed by residents of at least 51 percent of the homes on each road, and those residents need to agree to each pay $1 toward the project, Reese said.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $80,700. The petitions to repave the road are expected to be discussed at Monday's trustee meeting.
Reese said residents of 28 of the 38 homes on McCarty Drive have signed the petitions.
Bayus added that she voted against Gibson Road several times because an engineer she hired has determined that the plans for the road are flawed.
hill@vindy.com